


white silence

by kuroothighs



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-31 18:29:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3988318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroothighs/pseuds/kuroothighs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It kept smiling at him, not unlike a cat eyeing a small bird, and Daichi couldn't even do anything but stay frozen in his spot. The merperson, <i>Tetsurou</i>, his mind amended, laughed and put some more weight on his side of the boat, almost like he was playing see-saw with him. Daichi didn't even help the whimper he let out. </p><p>"Shit. Please, don't. I can't... I can't actually swim."</p><p>At that, Tetsurou grinned in a way that Daichi would describe as utterly wicked.</p><p>"Oho? A fisherman who can't swim? Interesting."</p>
            </blockquote>





	white silence

**Author's Note:**

> [09.16] hello, i rewrote a few parts of this, and i don't even know if people are still interested in this, but i kind of want to continue. idk. the first time, i got discouraged but who knows.

Merpeople, as his grandparents called them, were monsters.

They were beasts that ruled the sea, commanding the waves whichever way they desired, and they took humans, dragged them to the bottom of the ocean, never to be seen again.

His family had friends who had lost husbands, grandfathers, fathers, and sons to the merpeople and to the sea, that even his own were not spared.

He had an uncle - fisherfolk, like his father and the rest of them - who was swallowed by the waves, and did not re-emerge. Some say that a tail that glistened like gold and reflected the sunlight had cut through the waters after his uncle had disappeared.

He used to help his father haul fishes from their boats, and would walk with his mother to accompany her to the fish market to set up their shop. He did not complain about the work, as long as he didn't go out to sea that often. His mother wouldn't let him past the shore, anyway.

Seven years old and fearlessly daring was not a good combination in Daichi's book. An accident that almost made him lose his life had instilled a fear in him - the kind that was more of a fear in never resurfacing from the waters, than getting submerged in it. He insisted that there was a difference between the two.

But the ocean was his home, and Daichi had grown up with the trees that swayed in the wind, rolled around on sand so white he had to turn away his eyes from when the sun was high up in the skies. The salt in the water brushed his hair a light brown, and the sun kissed his skin a beautifully faint gold.

Daichi had never actually seen merpeople before. He has only ever seen them in his head, crafted images from countless stories passed around in front of a small fire, as he sat wide-eyed, huddled in thin blankets and tucked under his mother's arms.

They were half-fish and half-human, with powerful tails painted in the richest colors of the rainbow. Merpeople had pale skin, and sunken eyes, hollow cheeks and long necks. And Daichi would wake up in the middle of the night, grasping at his own neck, prying thin wispy fingers off of him with the fading image of red fiery eyes that were lit up like small flames in the water.

'They are tear drops, born into the ocean,' they used to tell him. 'The sea bends for them, to their will, and crystals found only in the deepest trenches are their treasure.'

'Be cautious of their voices echoing in the distance,' they used to warn him. 'Cover your ears when you hear the sirens.'

But he figured they forgot to tell him what he was supposed to do when there were no sirens, when the creatures chose to swim up to him, on their own accord. And without prior warning.

He blinked, and wiped a hand over his face, rubbing salt away from his eyes. Daichi's knuckles were turning white from gripping too hard the edges of his boat that was sat in the middle of the sea. He tried to press his back more firmly to the ends of his small vessel, hoping at the same time that he was just dreaming. He nearly pinched himself, but refrained doing so.

Daichi was only really supposed to be spending a few hours in the water for the first time in years, alone with his thoughts and only the waves to keep him company. Not this.

"Aww, come on."

He shuddered, hearing for the first time a deep, rumbling voice come from the creature's mouth. The voice crawled under his skin like no other and made the hairs on his arms and his neck rise.

The boat suddenly rocked to its side, precariously tipping it over, and Daichi squeezed his eyes shut. The only sound he could hear was the water beating rhythmically against the wood, and the pounding of his heart against his ribcage. The boat lurched again, throwing him forward.

Scrambling to get himself upside, the first thing he saw was a bare torso hanging on the edge of his boat. It was unbalanced, and he was terrified for a split second that it was going to tip over his head.

"Oh my god, please!" Daichi cried. "Stop - stop moving!" He wasn't sure the creature had understood what he said, but assuming by the words he had heard it say earlier, and the fact that it actually stopped squirming (was it trying to _climb_ into the boat?!), Daichi guessed the creature could indeed comprehend. 

There were a few terse seconds where neither of them dared to move a muscle, but Daichi hesitantly and slowly moved towards the body to kick it off, and in a breath, he screamed when the creature jerked all of a sudden.

"No, no, no," it said. "Why are you so scared of me?"

Daichi shot an arm out to grab the hunting knife tucked behind his trousers. "I'm going to kill you!" he warned, gritting the words out from clenched teeth. "I s-swear to god, you're probably stronger than me, but I'm not going without at least trying."

Merpeople were untamed beasts of the sea, who mercilessly lured humans into their coves, as if humans were things to collect. They were coldblooded predators, and no more than just animals who took the form of humans.

But this, this _thing_ was not that. It laughed, and the sound was crisp in the air of the open waters. Daichi flushed a dark shade of red that was barely visible in the tan of his cheeks, but he remained in his fighting position, pressing down the feeling that he was being played with. "Hostile are we? I'm not going to do anything to you, though. I'm just curious," it started. "You were always just on the shore and lying on the sand. Why are you out here?" 

Daichi's face contorted in confusion. Why was it the one asking him questions? "What? The hell are you talking about?" 

The merman flexed his arms for a bit, in a show of superiority, Daichi assumed. Not that he was feeling particularly intimidated, especially when he was on the brink of death. It used its elbows as leverage as it threw its tail back and forth in the water, rocking the boat. 

"I see you a lot, but never this far out in the sea, I mean. What changed?"

"You've been watching me?" Daichi spat instead, ignoring the question as he used his hand to hold onto the edge of the boat to keep himself upright. Meanwhile, he gripped the knife harder in the other.

"This conversation is going nowhere. I'm Tetsurou, by the way. In case you thought I didn't have a name," it said. "Oh, and I'm what you humans call a merperson. Nice to meet you."

"I didn't ask. And I know what you are," he retorted. At least five different ways to get away from the creature flashed in the peripheral of his mind, as he took in the merperson that had its upper body hanging on the side of his boat, smiling at him playfully. Except none of those five was physically possible for him, enough for him to get away without drowning in the process.

He considered kicking it off, but immediately discarded the thought. He probably would get dragged under by the foot either way.

It kept smiling at him, not unlike a cat eyeing a small bird, and Daichi couldn't even do anything but stay frozen in his spot. The merperson, _Tetsurou_ , his mind amended, laughed and put some more weight on his side of the boat, almost like he was playing see-saw with him. Daichi didn't even help the whimper he let out. 

"Shit. Please, don't. I can't... I can't actually swim."

At that, Tetsurou grinned in a way that Daichi would describe as utterly wicked.

"Oho? A fisherman who can't swim? Interesting."

Daichi shut his eyes closed again, in prayer or in preparation for his impending demise. Maybe if he prayed hard enough, Poseidon would hear him, grant him the patience he needed in order to deal with this beast. (Christ, actual _fish people_ ). That, or he really was going to get killed trying.

And of course, he had to get the cunning type.

**Author's Note:**

> scream at me on [twits](http://twitter.com/daikuroo) or [tumbls](http://deckeregen.tumblr.com). it gets lonely sometimes.


End file.
